Nobody Dies: Everybody Dies
by K9 the First
Summary: "Anger ventilated often hurries towards forgiveness; anger concealed often hardens into revenge." What happens when one is forgotton by one's family? Kei Ayanami returns to Tokyo-3 for a little reunion. Based on NGE: Nobody Dies and The Kei Files
1. The Clown Cries

**Nobody Dies: Everybody Dies**

K9: The First

It is recommended that you read both _Nobody Dies_ by Gregg Landsmen, to understand the setting, as well as _The Kei Files_ by EarthScorpian (who has written some very interesting worl), to have an idea of where this is coming from. Yes, it is a Fan Fiction, of a Fan Fiction (upgraded to sidestory), **of** a fan fiction.

* * *

NERV was in chaos. After the defeat of the final Angel, the whole base was kept under high alert with no word as to why from the Commanders or Dr. Ikari.

And then the attack came. All of the MAGI Supercomputers across the globe: Boston, Geneva, Beijing, Matsushiro, Hamburg and Berlin, all working in sync to hack the MAGI below their feet. It was by luck alone that the technicians were able to delay the attack long enough for Ritsuko, Asuka, Kyoko and Yui to activate the 666 firewall.

Dr. Ikari sighed to herself, wiping her brow as Akagi lit a cigarette. "That should do it…" She said.

"For now at least." The younger scientist stated cynically. "What's the status of the other MAGI?"

"The attack's still commencing, there doesn't seem to be any change in the other MAGI's action." reported Makoto

"So that means that we have less than thirty-six hours, if they continue like this…" Kyoko said.

"What is the status of the other pilots?" Gendo said out of the blue, his face unreadable from his throne on high.

The Head Bunnies quickly checked their terminals.

"Shinji is in the cafeteria, I don't think news of the hacking reached the recreation areas yet so I doubt he knows what's going on." replied Maya.

"Rei is already in Unit-05. She asked when she and Go-Kun could go out and play." came from Aoba.

"Good," said Yui, "tell Rei to sit tight, and get Shinji into Ichi as soon as you can." She turned to Asuka. "Asuka, I need you to get into Zwei too. We've got one last battle on our hands it seems."

"Wh-what's g-going on?" She asked.

Yui took in a deep breath before slowly letting it out. She removed her glasses to rub the bridge of her nose. Looking to her husband, she gave only a small nod.

"…SEELE is playing their Endgame. They're playing all their cards, calling in all favors owed… To start Third Impact."

Other than the heads of Project E, and Sub-Director Sorhyu, everyone on the bridged gasped in horror at the resounding response from their commander.

Ignoring the murmurs around them, Kyoko turned to her daughter, placing her hands on Asuka's shoulders and looked into her eyes, offering a sad half-smile. "Asuka, go. And when you come back, no matter what happens, we're going out. We have a lot to discuss."

It took the poor girl some time to realize what was being said, when it clicked. The redhead's sapphire eyes widened, and pools of tears glistened, threatening to fall. On impulse she shot towards Kyoko, wrapping her arms tightly around the older woman, a small, muffled cry of 'mama' was heard. The two stood there for a moment that seemed to last forever. But eventually it had to end, and Asuka parted and ran off to the pens, never looking back. Kyoko noticed Misato looking at her, a half-touched, half-smug look on her face.

"What are you looking at? The girl needs motivation for this last fight. Hopefully she won't screw up because her targets are now humans."

Suddenly, the telephone at Gendo's seat began to ring. Expecting the call, he put it on speaker.

"Yes."

"_Commander Gendo Ikari?"_

"Speaking."

"_By order of the Prime Minister and the Secretary-General of the UN, NERV has been hereby revoked of its charter and considered a rogue military element. You are ordered to stand down and surrender to SSDF forces immediately. What is your response."_

Gendo looked to his wife below him. With her arms crossed, she resolutely shook her head.

"Yipee-Kai-Yay Motherf___er." And with that he deactivated the phone, and before anyone could question his decision, he gave out orders.

"Katsuragi: Nerv is hereby under maximum alert. All non-military personnel are to be evacuated to the security rooms in the lower levels. All upper-level hatches, doors and corridors are to be magnetically sealed and barricaded, and the three uppermost levels and the lobby are to be flooded with Bakelite. The Evangelions are to be prepped for launch to the Geofront at a moment's notice. Now."

"Yes sir." Misato said automatically with a crisp salute, and began issuing orders.

"Also," said Yui, "Begin warming up the Ree, and get ready to send them to the levels below the Bakelite.

All the techs stared at her for a moment as though she were mad, before slowly turning back to their terminals to unleash the Beast.

"My _gods!_" cried Makoto suddenly, "The MAGI are being hacked again!"

"WHAT?! That shouldn't be possible!" Ritsuko exclaimed.

Aoba came to respond. "The attacker seems to be on a separate system, and using a backdoor! It looks like it's been there for months now and we didn't know it!"

"What is the hacker's target?" Kyoko asked Ibuki.

"Oh no! It's MAGI-00!"

"The girls!" cried Yui. "Quick get them out of there _now!_"

"We can't!" called Makoto as he pounded uselessly at the keyboard, the commands not appearing on the screen. "The hacker has completely cut us off at the terminals, we can't imput any orders!"

Sure enough, the commands were slowing up on the screens at a snail's pace compared to the typist's speeds, if they appeared at all.

Suddenly, Aoba's screen blacked out, replaced with a taunting message, Makoto and Maya's screens soon followed:

**HAXXORS ROFLMAO**

**IM N UR MAGAI! RAEPIN UR PROGRMS!!**

**LRN 2 PLY LESBO N00B! SHOW UR TITS!!1!!!ONE!!1!! LOL**

Yui ran to a backup keyboard at an abandoned terminal that was linked directly into the MAGI and began typing furiously. "Then everyone start trying to by-pass. Mari you too."

It took several long, agonizing minutes, but eventually they were able to regain control of the computers.

"Okay," Yui said worriedly, "Maya, get the girls out of the MAGI."

Or so they thought.

There was a tiny 'beep' from the terminal when First Lieutenant Ibuki tried to access the fourth MAGI core. Normally the sound would have been drowned out by the sounds of war, but in the tense atmosphere, it was as resounding as a bomb. Maya sat up straight and stiff, slightly twitching as she gave a tiny gasp. "N- …No. …Data."

Silence reigned.

"…What?" Was all Yui could say before rushing the young technician and grabbing her by the front of her uniform, Ritsuko and Kyoko rushing to her side, trying to pry her bone-white fingers from the tearful Bunny. "_What do you mean?!_" she bellowed, the whites of her eyes fully exposed around the iris, the pupil shrunk to a near pin-point, teeth bared, and face an angry red.

Maya sobbed in both sorrow and fear. It was all she could do to not break down from bearing the brunt of the mother's wrath.

"I-it's all gone Doctor Ikari… The OS, the software, the R- Th-the Ree…" At that, Maya fell limp as Yui released her as what the tech was saying sank in, Ritsuko comforting the distraught Bunny. With a mother's desperation Yui hunched at the terminal, typing furiously.

NO_DATA

She typed in more commands.

NO_DATA

In a last ditch effort, Yui typed in code and commands only she knew, that she had written for just this single MAGI.

NO_DATA

Not taking her eyes off the terminal, Yui slowly backed away from the screen before her, oblivious to her surroundings until her back was against the tier, where she slowly slid down until sitting, tears running freely down her face, and yet her voice was blank of emotion.

"Not again… It's Unit-01 all over again…" She buried her face in her hands and sobbed quietly.

Above them, the preparations for the invasion were complete, and the SSDF began the assault.

* * *

This was originally posted on the Spacebattles Forum for _Nobody Dies_. I've cleaned it up some for everyone else to see.


	2. Gauntlet DropMegiddo

**Gauntlet Drop**

She walked through the abandoned streets of the outskirts of Tokyo-3, across the street from the Katsuragi home in fact, her white plug suit immaculate, the number 07 proudly printed along her collar bone, cold, calculating crimson eyes looking towards the middle of the city, below which lay Central Dogma.

The Rogue Rei pressed a button on her left wrist, activating a red-tinted holographic display.

MAGI 00 NUETRALIZED_

RANSOME VIRUS DEPLOYED TO MAGI 04_

ACTIVATE? Y/N_

Kei's serene, blank face slowly turned up into a vicious smirk. With a simple key stroke, she would make the MAGI, and through them the World Network, hers and hers alone.

She punched the Y hologram, and deep within Sheol, the body of Mari Illustrious Makinami began to spasm in pain, and screamed. It was over within thirty-three-point-zero-five-five-nine-eight-two seconds. And as alarms blared throughout Terminal Dogma, the virus, now backed not only by the MAGI unit that used to be Kei's prison with SEELE, but now also by MAGI 04, began to infect Balthazar.

The technicians fought valiantly to ward off the renewed attack, but fighting a two-sided front, with one within one's own home at that, as well as the ongoing onslaught from the other MAGI across the globe, they were fortunate to even slow it down. Realizing this, Misato ordered Ichi, Zwei and Go-Kun sent up to the Geofront immediately, before they could lose their ability to do so.

And as a third of MAGI Geneva, MAGI 04 and Balthazar began to power the virus attacking Melchior, Kei smiled. Though it was early in the attack, and while she had hoped to trap the Evas in their cages before they could be launched to the Geofront, everything was going according to her scenario, plotted through countless hours of Simulations, and her own unique knowledge of the layout of NERV.

"_Command? Operation JUDAS has hit a snag, the enemy has sealed all entrances to their base, and the hallways have been rendered useless. I am requesting usage of The Bomb and UNIT-SICKARII, Security clearance JUNO-CHARLIE-Niner-Niner-BRAVO._"

Kei directed her attention to the radio transmission from the SSDF.

"_General this is Command. Request approved, BOMB en route, UNIT-SICKARII shall take off within thirty minutes. ETA for BOMB is twenty minutes._"

"Hmmm…" There wasn't much time. Kei smiled viciously as she raised her wrist to her mouth.

While some would think that the following was typical Villainous Genre Blindness, Kei was no such fool, she had plotted this portion early in her plans, but didn't include it until she was positive that it would not be obnoxious, but a genuine threat. She patched herself through to Central and Terminal Dogmas, as well as the Evas and even a few carefully chosen third party channels, ensuring that only a blank screen saying "SOUND ONLY" would come up. And with a slight cough to clear her throat, she spoke, tapping into her Angelic lineage.

**THIS BASE WORLD. ALL OF IT. IS GARBAGE.**

**THROUGH LICENSE OF MY OWN WILL, I COME TO CHANGE IT.**

**I COME FOR SHE WHO CLAIMED TITLE OF 'MOTHER.'**

**I COME FOR THE MAD PAWN.**

**THIS WORLD ON THE BRINK, I SHALL PULL BACK.**

**I AM YOUR SALVATION THROUGH CONQUEST AND DESCIPLINE.**

**THOSE WHO SAUGHT TO RULE ME SHALL BE SLAUGHTERED.**

**THOSE WHO STAND TO OPPOSE ME, I SHALL CRUSH.**

**LET A NEW PATH TO TOMARROW BE FORGED WITHIN THE FLAMES OF TODAY.**

**I AM SHE WHO IS THE EIGHTH.**

**I AM SHE WHO SHALL BE THE GREATEST.**

**I AM KEI.**

**I AM COME.**

**BOW.**

Kei then cut the transmission to the Evas and the rest of the world. She didn't anyone else but Little Mommy to hear this.

In Central Dogma, the fight against the viral invasion was lost. They had tried everything: setting up the access codes on a randomization cycle every few seconds to slow the attack, enacting a system shutdown, even having all the technicians, as well as Ritsuko, Kyoko and a mourning and vengeance-seeking Yui to try to hack into the virus itself to turn it back on its keeper. But to no avail. Caspar was lost. Followed shortly by a message saying 'ALL UR MAGI R BLONG 2 ME.'

Then an odd thing happened, once the MAGI were under control, the virus turned to hack into the Geneva MAGI, then to the Berlin MAGI, and was now working on Hamburg. At this rate the world's MAGI would all be under someone else's control.

Now, they had an idea as to who was behind the attack with Kei's announcement.

Dr. Ikari supported herself on the railing of the second tier.

"Kei?" she asked weakly, "Is that you?"

"Hello mummy. Long time no see, hasn't it?"

"_You're _behind this?" she asked, stronger this time, more indignant, and also with a hint of a parent's disappointment at a child's betrayal. "_You_ wiped out MAGI-00?! You killed them Kei! My god you _killed you own sisters!!_"

"Indeed I did." Kei's icy voice said from the faceless screen before them, not a hint of remorse. But underneath the cold one could almost swear they could hear a touch of giddiness at the prospect. "But they would serve no real purpose to my plans. Not only were they unstable, but their madness was not something that could be controlled. Any idiot who's seen Looney Toons could tell you that."

"And what about you Kei," called Kyoko from Yui's side, a comforting hand resting on her shoulder, "Last I checked you were in much of a similar situation."

"If you refer to my own unstable core, indeed I was Doctor Sohryu. But I got better, thanks to some… 'friends' I've acquired."

"You mean SEELE." Said Yui, the last word with a hint of acid in it. "Kei, I told you time and again they were not to be trusted!"

"I know Little Mommy. But that doesn't mean that I couldn't trick them into trusting me as an asset. Either way it is irrelevant, considering that _they_, mere strangers that saw me as a stupid pawn in their narrow-minded game, gave me _exactly_ what I wanted. Whereas _you_, Little **Mommy**, did NOT!"

Before anyone could respond, the SOUND ONLY slide was removed, showing the all but enraged face so identical to Rei's and yet so very different, for the eyes are the window to the soul. And the eyes of Kei Ayanami were clear, and angry, and conscious of their actions.

"So watch closely mother. While I slaughter your favorite daughter, and the young man who shares your name and blood, yet you barely know, falls in glorious battle. And watch, as the girl you had hoped would be your in-law is quartered by Eldritch Horrors that you had helped design."

She smiled a cruel smile, one Aoba would have recognized from the Reego. But was infinitely worse.

"_Byyyyyy~yyyyyyye_."

The screen winked out.

Back in the outskirts of town, Kei looked up as the rumble of a bomber's engines crossed the skies.

"That must be the N2 bomb the SSDF requested." She said as she looked at her built-in chronometer. "A bit early. Oh well."

With a shrug of her shoulders, the Nephilim walked out of the city. The blast to come would all but rival the Tzar Bomba in scale, and while this part of town wouldn't get caught in the blast, the shock waves would do tremendous damage, and any creature alive before the blast, would not survive after it.

Her AT Field would protect her from the blast, naturally, but it would also damage her plug-suit and mess up her hair. And Kei needed to look her best for the reunion with her _dear _sister.

* * *

**Megiddo**

The mushroom cloud rose above the ruins of Tokyo-3, a black pit above what was once downtown and Lake Ashi, belching out smoke like some immense volcano, thick and malevolent. The bomb fell ten minutes ago, and was only now dissipating.

At the rim stood Kei, with naught but a lock of hair out of place, one foot on Terra Firma and the other hiked up on the mass of debris circling the new hole in the ground, it was an interesting view that seemed impossible: All around the earth seemed normal, but directly in front it seemed like that inner earth that so many used to believe existed had been discovered, far below sat the chard but other-wise undamaged Geofront Pyramid, Units-01, 02, 05 and the Jet Alone Prime standing in a circle, looking up at the sky.

'_Mother._' whispered a voice in her ear, '_We are almost in position._'

'_When can we start killing Mother? My muscles ache for slaughter! I need enemies!_'

Kei lifted her wrist to her mouth, activating the comm feature. "Soon Omega my darling, soon. And thank you Alpha. In the Geofront are Units-01 02 05 and the JAP. You lot shall have the first two, as well as the JAP if you can get to it fast enough. But Unit-05 and its pilot are _mine_, are we clear?"

'_Yes mother._'

"Good. See you soon children."

The children she spoke with were, to the military UNIT-SICKARII, named after a radical Jewish sect that was to other Jews what the Spanish Inquisition was to other Catholics and Protestants, and to the rest of the world, they were the ivory-colored Mass Production-Evangelions. After the successes of her experiments with her and Kwaoru's mental patterns in making children, Kei performed the procedure one more time, this time with a specific purpose. With the construction of the MP-Evas underway, Kei knew that they would be a valuable asset if she could get them under her control. So, she carefully constructed nine AIs built specifically to possess the MPs, and when the time came to download said AIs into the Evas, Kei covertly hacked into the system, and replaced the intended AIs with her new **babies**. All of them were as intelligent as her, and excellent at strategy on their own.

But each one had one feature brought to the fore-front critical for operations: Alpha was the leader, Beta was the Second-In-Command, Epsilon was the strategist, Delta was improvisational, Theta, and Sigma were the stop-gaps, Pi did numbers, Lamda was communications, and Omega was the Berserker.

But they were all united in a single trait: Total, unwavering, blind and zealous loyalty to her.

The roar of the massive flying wings was heard as they cast their V-shaped shadows on the ground as the White Deaths dropped from on high upon their white wings, gliding silently into the hole in the world. Well, silent except to Kei's ears, as Omega held his own sword/Synthetic Lance above his head and screamed on the comm.

'_BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD MOTHER! BONES FOR THE BONE TOYS!_'

Kei slapped her palm to her face. This must have been what Little Mommy felt whenever Rei was in the field.

The battle was on, as the nine monstrosities fell upon their targets.

In the Geofront, in the Plug for Go-Kun, Rei looked at the Evas circling like buzzards above them, her usual smile at the oncoming battle noticeably absent. Though Little Mommy didn't know it, Rei was listening in during the hacking of MAGI-00, and she heard Kei's announcement to the world as its new Overlord, although it cut out after that.

And while there wasn't any evidence saying so, Rei had the uneasy feeling that the two events were tied.

Almost as if he could read her mind, waves of warmth and affection wafted into the plug from Go-Kun. **"Are you all right?"**

"I'm-"

It was then that the Jet Alone Prime seemed to spontaneously shatter.


	3. Battle Lines

**Battle Lines**

It was then that the Jet Alone Prime seemed to spontaneously shatter.

The event happened so fast that not even Rei's reflexes could fully compensate for it. But if one were to get the recording from Go-Kuns POV, and slow it down to a frame-by-frame speed, in the very last frame before it went to static, the projectile rocketing from the still falling debris of the JA could be clearly seen: A teenage girl of about sixteen years of age, with almost albino-pale skin and sky blue hair, dressed in a skin-tight white plug-suit. In a higher-resolution image, one could make out little splotches of gore flowing off of the girl's fists, which were held out in front of her in the classic Superman Flight pose. And hanging on her right shoulder due to the G-forces, was a clearly mechanical spine.

Rei was suddenly wrenched from her seat in the entry plug as Kei shot through the left-front and dragged her out the right-back of the Eva. Then as soon as they exited, Kei made an eighty-nine degree turn upwards and out of the hole in the Geofront to the surface, where she then slammed her sister through three skyscrapers that somehow remained standing before slamming her into one of the mountains surrounding the city as said buildings finally succumbed to gravity.

In the resulting crater, Kei arose. One foot on each side of Rei's groaning form below her, head tilted back and arms outstretched, basking in the warm sunlight as her sister looked up to her.

Kei sighed in satisfaction. "Ahhh, the sun feels so wonderful. The air so sweet. So much better, so more _real_ than _anything_ in that limited simulation. Tell me sister _dear_, when were you going to fill us in on these little things as we rotted away in that little World of Fictions? When you felt like it? When you remembered us?"

Rei was not easily startled, she was the "Go with the Flow" mentality given form. But there were still some things that she was deadly serious about, one was friends, and the other family. Had it been anyone else, the eldest Ayanami would have pummeled the one who killed her sisters and friends. But this was _Kei_, one of her own family.

"Kei… You're behind all this?"

"So you _do_ remember me Sis. I'm touched. It's nice to be remembered, especially since Little Mommy never _once_ mentioned me in her meetings with SEELE. I would know, I listened in on them all after my… 'forced relocation'."

"You, you killed them? You killed our sisters? Why?!"

Kei took in a deep breath and sighed, her face taking on an expression similar to that of one who discusses unfortunate events as though they were inevitable.

"Several reasons actually. One of which was the fact that if all of them were activated during this operation, they would make it much more complicated to complete. The second, well… Those in a Cage must either see the Cage for what it is and escape, or deny the Cage and die. I saw MAGI-00 as the Cage it was, with Little Mommy holding the keys to our permanent release. Therefore I sought escape and achieved it. Our sisters did not, they denied the Cage even though I told them of it time and again, and thus their weakness of observation caused them to die."

She stepped away from Rei and looked out over the ruins of Tokyo-3.

"Mankind is in a similar position, but their collective sanity does offer a fertile ground for them to realize their own Cage. I am Above Man, and they can become that as well if they will listen to me. The old morals of this world have failed, making Humanity a bloated mass, slowly dying. And only I can change that." Kei turned back around in a snap, grabbing Rei by the neck and lifting her up as she offered a quote.

"'Man is something to be surpassed. What have you done to surpass mankind?'"

With that, the Rogue Rei launched herself into the air with her sister. After reaching a height of about a mile, she began spinning around and around, faster and faster until she finally released Rei, the centrifugal force sending her over the horizon to the north at great speed.

"Stay put sister," Kei said with a smirk, "while I go have a talk with your lover."

With that, she glided back down to the edge of the hole in the earth. Below she could see Unit-01 and Unit-02 fighting back-to-back against her children. So far they were doing well, they weren't dead.

Kei lifted her wrist to her mouth again. "Boys and girls, quit messing around. I only included you in this operation to see if you could stand up to a challenge. If you fail I will be greatly disappointed in you."

'_Sorry Mother._' Was the unified response.

Kei cut the transmission just as the sounds of retro-rockets sounded. To her right a giant grappling-hook that looked like a modified drill caught on the edge, the sounds of a large high-speed winch coming from below. Seconds later, a three-fingered hand grasped the edge, and with great and obvious strain, the battered body of Unit-05 pulled itself up and onto the ground, falling in a heap once it did so, panting heavily from the strain and his wounds.

Go-Kun had seen better days. On his upper left chest was a steep and wide crater that narrowed into a hole about the size of Kei, on the lower right back, Kei knew that there was a similar feature in reverse. In a way it looked like Go-Kun could be made into half of a funnel-press. Had he been human, the projectile would have gone straight through the left lung, nicked the aorta, punched a hole through the diaphragm, and pulverized the right kidney on its way out.

"So you're alive, 'Go-Kun' is it? I'll admit I'm surprised." Kei said, though she didn't sound it, she had the air of someone who's watched this part of a film before, "I was right to assume you were going to be one of the greater challenges considering your… uniqueness. You _and_ the Jet Alone Prime. Though with the latter I'm disappointed with its performance."

Go-Kun heaved mightily as he spoke, **"Where… Is… Rei…?"**

"Oh don't worry, she's still alive. For now at least. She's just visiting Santa, she'll be back. But I wanted to speak with _you _Go-Son. After all, with the birth of the little abomi-I mean, the 'darlings' the Reego, that makes me an Auntie! And _you_ my Brother-In-Law."

Go-Kun tensed at the mention of his daughters. Kei began pacing in front of him, seemingly unaware of his discomfort.

"And not even _one_ little e-mail, or gift card, or invitation to a Shower." Kei tisked at this. "Granted, it would have been difficult to get it through, but a little effort would've been appreciated. It almost makes me feel like I'm being _purposely_ taken out of the Family Loop. In fact, the day before I found out I found the most _adorable_ set of hand-knitted toboggans while walking around Berlin, each the color of the Rainbow. Oh those girls would look just _precious_ with those. I think I'll get them those for Christmas, with a big note saying 'From your loving Auntie Kei'." Kei put a finger to her lips in thought.

"Hmmm… That reminds me…" she said, with growing mock-surprise. "I'm planning on killing you and Rei today. Along with everyone else… Maybe it _is_ a good thing that you and my sister let them go (some might call it abandon) off to Australia, an isolated region where they would be the only sentient beings around, all by themselves without so much as a good-bye (oh I don't blame you Go-Son, 'Like Mother Like Daughter' they say), I would just _hate_ to see one of those little girls get caught in the cross-fire and die and stuff. I would be just _devastated_.

"But then… With you and Rei, and Little Mommy and Big Mommy, and Daddy and Shinji and Asuka all dead, their only Next of Kin would be… _Me._ Oh well, I guess I'll just have to raise them as my own then. I'm sure they and their cousins will get along just fine!"

"**You stay away from my girls you murderous witch!"**

With that, Go-Kun launched at Kei, drill whirling at thousands of revolutions a minute. In the place where Kei used to be the street was pulverized into dust. Looking to where his target moved herself to, the drill-toting Eva fired his canons at her, but the plasma shots simply stopped at her AT Field.

Kei just smirked at the wasted token effort.

"Funny, I don't remember asking your permission!"

At that, Kei moved her hands in front of her, the heels of her palms touching and her fingers flared out. She had spent the months since her stabilization experimenting with and practicing alternate capabilities of her Field. This one she perfected, drawing inspiration from data from the first Ramiel battles.

From her hands shot out a bright, yellow-tinted beam of energy. Said beam then made contact right in the middle of Go-Kun's visor, then through the single eye behind it, and finally exploded out the back, the cranial armor the only thing keeping the pulverized Angelic-derived flesh from splattering the streets. Kei then quickly repeated the attack, aiming for the core, which detonated.

Floating down next to the dead body of the once mighty Unit-05, Kei used her strength to shove the giant cadaver into the abyss. Walking up to the edge, she watched as the massive body impacted on the Geofront floor with a self-satisfied smile.

"Such heroic nonsense."

A fraction of a second later, Kei was shoved from the left with the same amount of force she had exerted to get her sister's attention minutes before. As she was forced through the air, Kei could see the murder and glistening in Rei's eyes.

"_**KIN-SLAYER!!**_" she bellowed over the wind.

Kei smiled right before Rei slammed her into another mountain, forced her _through_ said mountain, and slammed her into the mountain on the other side. Once stopped, Rei commenced with a brutal beating of punches to Kei's torso and face, screaming all the while.

"I'll kill you I'll kill you I'll kill you I'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyou_I'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'LLKILLYOU__**I'LLKILLYOU!!!!**_"

With the last final punch, Rei pulled a similar trick she used while trapped in Ramiel, but the ball of positrons she collected in her AT Field didn't make it through the Field of her target, and the resulting explosion launched her backwards, almost hitting the mountain she and her enemy just went through before gaining control of her fall.

Kei slowly pulled herself out of the Kei-shaped hole she made, her face covered in bruises, and her jaw cracked, injuries already rapidly healing. The smug smile was unmoved.

"I'll admit sister _dear_, I'm surprised at your ferocity. You don't strike me as one who would hit her own sister."

From across the ravine, Rei's face was one of pure hatred, berserker tears running down her cheeks.

"My sisters are _dead_," she called out, "Go-Kun is _dead!_ And I swear on their graves that I will _kill_ the monster that harmed them!"

In response, Kei merely stood up and cracked her neck, then worked on her knuckles, one by one as she spoke.

"One really shouldn't make promises that they can't keep, but I'm game…"

Kei joined Rei's hovering position in the air.

"Bring it _Sister_."

And with that they both flew straight at each other, Rei bending her AT Field around her right fist, collecting positrons, protons and electrons within it.

"_FALCON-!!!_"

And on the other side of ravine, Kei mirrored the same action.

"_-PAWNCH!!!_"

The fists met, and the resulting explosion outshone the sun above, and stripped the mountains of all vegetation and life.


	4. Endgame

**Endgame**

Minutes had passed since the massive blast of energy shot across the opening in the Geofront. The shockwaves had brought of the Evas to their hands and knees for a moment, but as soon as it subsided the MPs pulled themselves up and swarmed on Ichi and Zwei like buzzards. At the moment Shinji and Ichi were fighting Alpha, Theta, Sigma, Lambda and Delta, and Asuka and Zwei was against Beta, Epsilon, Pi and Omega.

"**Hehheheheheheheh!"** Theta giggled to himself, his slight Scottish brogue that resulted from an unexpected data mutation breaking through to his speech as he broke one of the Eva's arms behind her back, **"Oh thei'll haff ta gloo yoo bak ta'getha lassie. **_**In hell!**_**"**

"**Focus Theta." **Alpha scolded, as stoic as ever, **"This needs to be done quickly."**

Lambda smiled as he wrenched one of Ichi's legs out from under her. The same type of data mutation that resulted in Theta sounding like a one-eyed demoman rendered him mute, so he compensated by hacking into radio waves to play song snippets of what was relevant to the conversation, he had recently figured out how to manipulate the signals in real time in order to change certain words to make them a better fit.

"_**And when you're gone we want you all to know/We'll carry on! We'll carry on! *zztzzt* -from decimated dreams/**_**Mom'**_**s misery and hate will kill **_**you**_** all!**_**"**

"**Shut up Lambda!"** Sigma yelled, annoyance clear in her voice as she pulled Ichi to the ground. The five Mass Produced Evas swarmed onto Ichi, and as she was torn apart, the screams of her and Shinji could be clearly heard in Central Dogma.

Zwei jaws unlocked as he and Asuka managed to break from their own fight. Tragically, they could not make more than two steps before the two long prongs of a Lance burst from Zwei's chest in a vertical configuration. The upper one came out in what one knowledgeable in Eva anatomy would recognize as the general area of the plug. The lower prong obviously shot through the core, as shown by the sphere-shaped bulge that appeared around it.

As Zwei fell, Omega's psychotic grin was shown, his hands around the Lance sticking out of the red Eva's back.

"**Heh. Boom, back shot."** And with that, Omega jumps onto Zwei, ripping him open and began to feast, as Beta, Pi and Epsilon all looked on in mutual horror. Mother would need to know of this after the fight.

And with the MAGI unresponsive, Yui could not do anything to protect her children. She was helpless in the inability to commence any action other than to watch. Simply, Kei has taken her revenge. And in metaphor, Yui Ikari has no mouth, and she is screaming.

Above the carnage, the battle among the last of the sisters still raged. Rei and Kei flitted among the ruins of Tokyo-3, the only living things around for miles due to the explosions, the identical Ree lobbing spheres of ionized matter at each other.

Kei mentally smiled to herself. Rei was angry and mourning not only the loss of her sisters, but also the father of her children. And that anger was controlling her into using only long-ranged attacks. With each dodge, Kei maneuvered herself closer to her sister. Finally, she was within arm's reach.

With a short cry, Kei flashed Rei in the face with a high concentration of energy. Taking advantage of her opponent's temporary blindness, Kei assaulted Rei with a flurry of punches to the face before getting her in a stranglehold, then power diving to the pavement below. As the dust from the impact cleared, it revealed Rei lying on her front in the crater, with Kei, panting, straddling her waist, holding her sister's arm up and behind her back.

"Oh how the mighty fall." Kei said bitterly, "Mother's favored daughter, who hogged all the glories of this world of matter and elements, and left her sisters in that cell, cut off from the real world, save for the limited view of sights and sounds through the world net. It was as ash to me. All of the _things_ we all missed out on, while _you_ got it all! Science Fairs! Family outings! Spelling Bes! The world premier of the _Twilight_ movie!"

Rei grunted, "And so you killed our family? And they call _me_ crazy."

Kei gasped through clenched teeth, her eyes widened to their most extreme. With a savage growl, Kei grabbed Rei by the roots of her hair with her free hand, and slammed her face repeatedly into the pavement, leaving cracks, then a dent, and then a crater.

"_**I am NOTHING like them!**_ I am a paragon of rationality and intellect!"

Rei's battered but healing face coughed a small laugh. "Ain't just a river…"

Kei stopped herself, forcing herself to be calm. Rei was trying to make her so cross with her taunts, that Kei would make a mistake.

Two could play that game.

The Rogue Rei leaned down, to whisper into her sister's ear.

"You know what I'm thinking of? I'm thinking about your little children, wondering in the outback. I wonder what will happen to them when you're gone?" She chuckled softly in Rei's ear, "Well, I already know, and I'll tell you. I'll take them in, educate them on the realities of this world beyond wanton destruction. They're young, it'll be _easy_."

Kei's smile grew to truly terrifying lengths as she applied more pressure, both literally and figuratively.

"You know what I'm gonna do? Right now I suspect that they have a high opinion of "Mommy and Daddy," but not for long. Oh it'll be subtle at first-otherwise it would blow up in my face-but as time passes, I'll change that image of two loving parents, and warp it into two glorified parental units who may have given them life, but did not love them. Two amoral monsters that their _dear_ and _loving_ Auntie Kei saved them from."

Her whisper was now barely more than a breath, seemingly heedless of Rei's tensing body, "And whenever they come to think of you, whenever your name comes up, whenever they see your grave, they, your precious **babies**,_ will spit on you_."

With a burst of energy, Rei's AT Field blasted Kei off of her, destroying the ruins surrounding them, the yellow color of the light briefly tinting her hair a golden color. Taking advantage of the momentum, Kei took to the skies, and Rei once more followed her high above the now exposed Geofront, the mutilated bodies of Ichi and Zwei strewn about the place.

"_**You leave my BABIES alone!"**_ cried out Rei.

Rei began to spin her right arm in a tight circle in front of her, her AT Field deploying in a spiral, conical shape.

"_**Gigaaaaaaa-!"**_

'_Just as planned'_ Kei thought to herself, silently mirroring her sister one more time.

"_**DrrrrrriiiiLLLLLL-!"**_

The two AT-Drills met at the tips, crackling away at each other, neither moving, neither breaking. For minutes this battle of wills between the two mothers played out. If one would die, her children would be stolen, if the other died, her children would also die. Across the bright and crackling space the twins stared at each other, one the incarnate image of hateful rage, the other of placid apathy.

Down below, the Mass Produced Evas looked upon the battle between their mother and their aunt, they had all circled around Omega, to ensure that he didn't do anything else unsavory.

"**Who do you suppose will win?"** asked Beta

"**What kinda stupid question is that?"** remarked Epsilon, **"It'll be mother obviously!"**

Alpha looked up at the battle with a critical eye. **"I don't know… Doesn't mother's AT Field seem suddenly… Weaker to anyone else?"**

Pi looked up at the battle herself, rubbing her long chin in thought.

"**I think you might be right Alpha. This is just a quick hypothesis formed by initial observation, but I believe that it is quite possible that Mother's core is reaching Critical Mass."**

Her siblings looked to her in shock.

"**But I thought SEELE stabilized mother's core! Did they somehow go back on their word?"**

"**Not at all Sigma. While it's true that mother's core has been stabilized, given its original state it still runs a higher risk of reaching Critical Mass than a naturally stable core. While a naturally stable core would only reach CM with significant structural damage, if mother were to put too much strain on her core this soon after being stabilized, the core might not be able to take it."**

High above them, Kei suddenly felt a piercing, burning pain in her chest. Clenching the area with her free hand, Kei realized what was going on: She had been pushing herself too far and to soon. This battle had to end. _Now._

But how to do that? Rei was not going to just let Kei go. Not that Kei was intending to retreat, she had spent too many hours in the simulators plotting this battle to let it end like this. Kei looked to her right arm, still producing the giant energy drill, and Kei got an idea. She didn't like the idea, but there weren't any other options. When one makes plans, one must consider all the possible outcomes. Compare Costs and Benefits, Risk versus Reward: The greater the Risk, the greater the Reward. And this plan was very high in Risk.

She stopped producing the drill.

_**"**__**BRRREEEAAAKEEERRRRRRR!"**_

Rei's drill overtook the final remnants of Kei's own, and vaporized her hand. And her arm, then her shoulder and the right side of her chest.

Kei cried out briefly in pain before gritting her teeth, and reached behind her head with her one remaining hand as Rei rocketed towards her. Out of the plug suit's pack on the back popped a knife hilt. When she grabbed it, the blade popped out in a stabbing configuration, the cutting edge glowing. It took some work, but before she left she managed to 'borrow' something from the RnD department in NERV-Berlin: a miniaturized Progressive knife.

And when Rei was in range, Kei stabbed her square in the right eye.

As Kei used her sister's momentum to put herself above Rei as they fell, she kept shifting the blade, so that the wound wouldn't get a chance to heal, and as they fell, Kei's maimed body quickly bubbled cancerously, and then seemed to grow out like a rapid mass of tumors, and when it all smoothed over her body was perfectly healthy and undamaged. The plugsuit… Not so much.

Kei forced on the speed to twelve times their terminal velocity, and slammed into the floor of the Geofront. As soon as the Ree made impact, Kei bashed on the butt of the Mini-Progressive knife as hard as she could, cracking it through the cranial bones, and effectively impaling Rei's head to the earth.

With an almost animalistic energy, Kei then began to pound her sister's face with her fists, each one slamming into her skull with the same pressure of pounds per square inch as a falling aircraft carrier. With each punch, Rei's AT Field was instinctively deployed, its unique shape glimmering in the air each time, and with each punch it was a little bit dimmer, until finally the Field didn't appear at all.

But Kei kept hitting the now pulped flesh, releasing year's worth of simmering anger that had never been vented until now. Finally, Kei stopped, gasping for breath and supporting herself on her bloodied arms, one clad in a plug suit's sleeve, the other bare. Nine large shadows encircled their slouching mother. As Kei looked up to them, she finally started taking normal breaths before she finally stood, covering her immodesty with her new right hand, and awkwardly reactivate her comm to Central Dogma. Kei looked directly into one of the cameras she knew would have survived all of the conflict as she spoke panting into her wrist a single phrase.

"Goodbye… Mother…"

With that, she typed in a short sequence on the flickering holographic display as Alpha picked her up, and all ten of them left the Geofront. Thirty seconds later, charges all the way from Terminal Dogma to the top of the Geofront detonated, leaving no trace of NERV or Tokyo-3 behind, but a smoking hole to size of Washington DC.

* * *

It was a full moon tonight, though with the storm clouds one wouldn't know it. The forecast had been clear night skies, but with all the massive explosions, the rising hot air generated dragged a storm system further south and east faster than anticipated. The battle of Tokyo-3 had ended eleven hours ago. There was no reason for Kei and the MP-Evas to still be around in the cold rain. Sigma had gotten Kei a piece of tent fabric left by the SSDF to cover her indecency. Kei had words with Omega concerning his undue bloodlust against Unit-02, and he now sat looking like a child told to sit in the corner, hiding himself with his wings.

After all, Kei was the world leader now, and had to maintain appearances. While she had been exerting her independence and settling scores with her family, the Ransom virus that she introduced in the MAGI as well as her precious Keiworu's were scouring the internet, hacking into every system they could find, and resting control for her. She was currently in conference with the last of them.

'_I have successfully gained control of 100% of the world's nuclear stockpile mother, and am now working on the remaining Point-zero-four-nine percent of the N2 stockpile still under UN and International control._'

"Well done 05-Em A9. You have made mother very pleased. Continue as you were."

'_Yes mother._'

"07-Em D4, 04-Ef D0 and 05-Em D5? How goes the takeover of the ISS?"

'_We have successfully captured the Station mother._' Said 07-Em D4.

'_What would you have us do with the Astronauts up here mother? _' asked 05-Em D5.

"Leave them be for now, they can be useful in the future, or as hostages in the present if need be. Have you gotten my e-mail with the schematics and list of satellites projected to come close to the station that have the parts required?"

'_Yes mother._'

"Good. Get to work on building that positron cannon as swiftly as you can with safety. In my first session as Empress I'll be informing Central America and the Middle East that if they don't get their act together within the year their whole regions will be glass. I want my Death Station completed by then children. Is that understood?"

'_Yes mother._'

"Good. Is there any other news from anyone else? No? Very well. You have done well my darlings, you have made mother very pleased with you all. Contact me if you have anything new to report."

'_Yes mother._'

"…Alpha?"

The leader of what Kei was considering renaming "The Empress' Fist" kneeled down so that they would have a semblance of being eye-level. **"Yes mother?"**

"You say that two A9 series Keiworu were last seen on the net heading for Australia?"

"**Yes mother, ****02-Ef A9 and 00-Em A9****."**

"Hmmm… If they came across the Reego already, that would make finding them much easier. Lambda? Send a message to my children in charge of the communication satellites that I want a clear channel into the Australian Continental Remnant within the week if possible. I want to get those girls out of that Hell Hole as soon as practical."

"_**Eight-Six-Seven-Five-Three-Oh-Niiii-eee-aiiine!**_**"** Lambda said, giving a smile and thumbs up.

Kei gave a nod in acknowledgement. "Alpha, if you would remain here for a moment. The rest of you may now leave for the base. Await my orders."

"**Yes mother."**

As the other eight of the MP-Evas took off, Alpha remained where he was, observing Kei as she stared out towards where Tokyo-3 once stood.

"Son, if I were to ask your opinion, would you answer truthfully?"

"…**I would certainly try mother. What is it you ask?"**

Kei simply stared out into the night, rubbing the underside of her chin in thought.

"…Do you think I was right? In what I did today."

Alpha looked down to his mother in what could be described as surprise. He never would have guessed that she would ever invite him to second guess her. It was a precarious situation that Alpha didn't think he could readily get himself out off. But he swore that he'd tell the truth, and so tell the truth he would. He took a deep breath before answering. Honestly.

"**No."**

Kei looked up to him from the corner of her eye. But other than that there was no movement to judge her reaction. "Oh? Why is that?"

"…**Mother, you raised us to hold solidarity to you in all things, because you are our mother. So to see you rise against your own mother, and slaughter your own family… I would be lying if I said that I didn't find it… distasteful. But, you are my mother, and I shall do what you ask of me."**

Time passed as mother and son ruminated on the events of the day. Finally, Kei just gave a sad smile and patted Alpha's hand.

"Thank you, son. I see you got a little bit of your father's idealism." Moments passed again before Kei looked up to Alpha fully and spoke again, "Alpha, could you get something for me? And then you can leave."

* * *

Kei slowly walked to the rim of the gaping hole that was once Tokyo-3, the shape of Alpha in flight was already swallowed by the storming night. In Kei's hand was a large bouquet of white roses, she didn't know where Alpha could've gotten them, but she also didn't care.

Looking into the mile plus deep hole she made, Kei pondered on her next steps in relation to NERV. While her grudge was with Yui and Rei, and thus anyone who could've been used to get to them, Kei really saw no need to actively tarnish their good names. The business of turning a Saint into a Demon, or especially into making a person an Unperson, was difficult and wasteful of resources. Let the History Channel laud Dr. Ikari and NERV for killing the Angels if they wished, Kei didn't care.

And yet, here she was. As Kei tossed the bouquet into the pit, she found it ironic that she was even bothering with this pointless show. And yet…

And yet…

And yet it felt comfortable to do so. When she realized this, Kei squatted down to her haunches, embracing her knees to her chest.

"…I have everything I've ever wanted." She said allowed, "I rule the world, my core is stable, I've proven myself better than Rei, I've gained my independence and revenge, and I'm finally free from my infuriating sisters.

"…So why do I feel like crap?"

The wind was the only voice to answer her.

* * *

Kei jolted awake from the simulation. As the LCL drained away, she shook her head to verify that, yes, she was indeed in the real world again.

'Real World again,' that sounded nice.

As she dried off her hands Kei walked over to a nearby table with a notebook in the false bottom of a drawer.

_Corrections for Operation JUDAS_ it said at the top of the first page. These notes she could've made in a word processor, but she had no idea if SEELE had any backdoors to whatever computer she used (well, she _did_, but that was irrelevant). For the past few months, since she got her core stabilized in fact, she had been planning a way to avert Instrumentality and settle her grievances with Little Mommy. She set up the program to where she would be at the distinct disadvantage, even to the point of the computer cheating (one such attempt had Rei pulling the Triple Heavy MASER out of the Dirac for example).

_Attempt 111,153: Go-Kun and JAP are buddies. Kill first._

_Attempt 123,427: Take out MAGI-00 first it'll make everything easier._

_Attempt 225,416: If Lilith awakens: Run._

Looking at her latest entry, she added her final attempt:

_Attempt 230,001: Success. Still relying too much on theatrics, kill Rei as soon as extract. Once MAGI controlled, activ~…_

Kei couldn't write anymore. She just couldn't bear to write another word describing the perfect way to destroy… to kill her family.

Kei needed a shower anyway, and for some reason she felt that the now drying LCL wasn't the _only_ reason.

For the next hour she sat huddled in the falling water that had long run cold, only stepping out when her suddenly upset stomach all but dragged her to the toilet to empty it.

It was then that tears finally started falling, and the sobs racked her body. Why was she crying? She was justified in wanting Little Mo-Yui and Rei dead, right?

Right?

Minutes after she pulled herself together and got dressed, there was a knocking on her door. One the other side was someone that Kei was surprisingly happy to see.

"Nagisa," she said, "what brings you here?"

Kaworu was about to answer when he noticed that her eyes were red. …der.

"Miss Ayanami? What is the matter? You seem to have been crying."

_Flattle_ Kei thought to herself. The full truth would be a shot to the foot, but grains of truth made for excellent lies.

"Oh it's nothing Nagisa I assure you. Just a little anger management regime I've been experimenting with." A partial truth, a sweet smile (plus a bit of a self embrace that "just happened" to accentuate her bust) and Kei was off the hook. "So, you didn't answer _my_ question…"

A quick shake of the head, and the Ayanami Twins were put back to the back of Kaworu's mind where they belonged until bedtime. "Well, I'm afraid I've come to cancel our diner date tomorrow night. There seems to have been a mishap with Leliel that has left Units 01, 02 and 05 lost in the Dirac Sea, so I'll be transferred to NERV until further notice."

"Is everyone okay?" Wait a minute, did she really just ask that? With something resembling genuine emotion?

Nagisa didn't seem to notice it, or chose not to comment on it. "I wasn't privy to the details, but the feeling seems to be that a head of Project E was with them at the time as well.

Kei clamped down on the urge to swallow, and ignored the bile tickling at the base of her throat. "I see. When are you leaving?"

"Within the hour I'm afraid."

"I see," Kei said thoughtfully, then looked Kaworu square in the eye, "I want details as soon as you get them, understood?"

She smiled viciously, "And I'll find out if you're lying."

Nagisa simply returned the smile, leaning on a hand to the door frame, "I would never dream of lying to a lovely lady."

"Good. Call me as soon as you land." And with that the door shut, and Kaworu had the distinct feeling that the term "cockblock" was appropriate.

Kei sat at her bedside table, her notebook burned and in the trash bin next to her, reading a book of quotes. It was a bit of a pastime for her in-between mind games and dinner dates with Nagisa (who should've landed in Tokyo-3 by now. Hours ago in fact). Normally she read profound sayings of famous people in order to find logical holes in them, it was an entertaining mental exercise that she normally enjoyed. But tonight her heart just wasn't in it.

She was about to close the book for the night, when for no reason at all, one stuck out:

"_Anger ventilated often hurries towards forgiveness; anger concealed often hardens into revenge."_  
-Robert Bulwer-Lytton

For what seemed like hours Kei simply read and re-read the quote, for no reason that she could conceive. It was only when the holographic image of Nagisa materialized in the room that she put the book down.

"You are late."

**THE END**

What? Did you people _really_ think I'd screw with someone elses toys without putting in an out? ^_^


End file.
